Istratrix of said harvey lamb lufkin



UNITED STATES I PATENT OFF CE.

HARVEY LAMB LUFKIN, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.; MARY D. LUFKIN ADMIN- ISTRATRIXOF SAID HARVEY LAMB LUFKIN, DECEASED.

FlR E-EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,606, dated March 9,1897.

Application filed February 10, 1890. Serial No. 339.865. No model.)

To all whom it may c0n0ern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY LAMB LUFKIN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

In those places Where the water-supply, while sufiiciently abundant foruse in case of fire, is under a very low head it is necessary to useportable engines, which are carried to each point where conflagrationoccurs and there connected with the mains from which the water isreceived and pumped by the power generated in the separate engines. Thismethod of extinguishing fires is attended with serious objections, thechief of which is the time lost between the discovery of the fire andthe arrival and getting in operation the pumping apparatus, for the lossof a few minutes time will often permit the flames to reach a mass ofhighly-combustible materials, causing a disastrous conflagration, whichmight have been avoided if water had been thrown upon the flames a fewminutes sooner. Efforts have been made to obviate these objections byextending branch pipes, connected with the street-mains, to thedifferent apartments of buildings and providing them with fusible plugsor other means for unsealing discharging-nozzles automatically by theincrease of temperature resulting from the heat of a fire; but suchappliances cannot effectively be employed except where the head of wateris sufficient to discharge the stream at Whatever point the nozzle isunsealed. Attempts to obviate this difficulty by the use of separatepumping-engines in connection with separate buildings or districts havenecessitated the use of separate generators in connection with thedifferent engines, maintaining different sources of motor powerconstantly in efiective condition, with generators in operation atdifferent points.

In order to obviate the above-set-forth objections and effectively applythe water from the mains to the fires whatever may be the elevatedposition of the latter, and when the head of water is insuflicient toraise it alone to such position, and in order to avoid the necessity ofusing the generating power at difierent points and the use of separategenerators for such purposes, I make use of the system which I will nowdescribe and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one of a series ofbuildings, showing the arrangement of pump, water-pipes, conductors, and

cut-off when an electrical generator is used.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 directlyconnected with the pump.

Each building which it is desired to protect is provided with aconducting-pipe 1, ex-

tending from the basement to the top of the building, and from which, ifdesired, branch pipes 4 are extended to different points, and with thispipe 1 and with the water-main 2 in the street communicates a pump A, ofany suitable construction, the operation of which will force the waterfrom the main to the highest and most distant part of the pipe system inthe building.

The motor-power for operating the pumps of all the various edifices isderived from one single source of supply at any central or suitablestation and is conveyed to the various pumps through a main conductor Band branch conductors 3, the character of which will depend upon themotor-power employed.

If the motor-power be compressed air or steam or water under highpressure (which may practicably be employed to operate the few apparatusthat must be moved at anyone time for extinguishing fires, while itwould 8 not be sufficient for supplying the entire district underpressure) the conductor B may be in the form of a pipe, but where themotor-power is electricity the conductor may be in the form of a Wire orbar of proper dimen- 9o sions, the generator in one case being asteamgenerator, pump, or air compressor and in the other a dynamo orother source of electric energy.

Whatever motive power is employed it is may be arranged to be operatedautomat- 10o ically by any suitable thermostat. Thus in Figs. 1 and 2,which illustrate an electromotor for operating the pump A, the cut-off Eis in the form of a circuit-breaker or switch 7, inclosed within a case8 outside of the building and provided With a movable lid or door whichmay have a lock and key, so as only to be opened by proper parties, asfor the purpose of inspection, 85c.

In order to limit the application of the water to those portions of thebuilding only in which the fire occurs and also in order to render theapplication of the water automatic, I prefer to provide the water pipesor branches with nozzles 10, closed by fusible plugs, or controlled by athermostatic device, so that only those nozzles adjacent to and affectedby the heat of the fire will be unsealed, so that when the Water isturned onto the main supply-pipe 1 it will flow or be discharged only atpoints adjacent to the fire. To render this application of power to thepump automatic, the cut-off may be thrown into position to direct themotor fluid into the motor as a result of the unsealing of the nozzles.Thus a Clarke governor F may be in communication with the pipe 1, sothat the pressure of the water normally sealed in the said pipe and itsbranches may maintain the diaphragm 12 of the governorin one position,said diaphragm being connected with the switch '7 or other cut-oftdevice, so as to maintain it normally'in position to cut off the flow ofmotor fluid. WVhen any of the nozzles are unsealed, the reduction ofpressure in the pipe 1 and governor F causes the diaphragm 12 to take areverse position and moves the cut-off so as to complete the circuit andadmit the current to the motor and set the pump in operation.

The diaphragm, it will be understood, is such as is normally maintainedin a central position within its case or shell, so that just as soon aspressure is relieved therefrom at the under side it will tend to berestored to such normal position and the switch will at the same time beoperated. During the time the pump is forcing water up through the pipe1 and the outlets of the pipe are open, there will not be sufficientpressure to lift the diaphragm, and hence there is no tendency of thewater to open the switch.

If desired, each pump may be provided with one or a number of nozzles ss s for the attachment of hose.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts shown, I claim 1. The combination with a series of Waterconductingpipes arranged within a building and connected with the street, saidpipes provided with nozzles constructed to be unsealed by heat, a pumpfor such series of conducting-pipes, and a conductor extending from thepump to a source of motive power, of a cut-off connected with the pump,and a diaphragm connected to automatically operate said cut-off onunsealing the nozzles to start the pump into operation upon theoccurrence of a fire in the building supplied by said pump,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a series of buildings each provided with awater-conducting pipe having branches and nozzles and means forunsealing said nozzles by the action of heat, a water-main and series ofpumps for pumping water therefrom through the conducting pipes, a motorfor each pump, a central source of power for all the motors, and anautomatic cut-cit connected with each motor for shutting off themotor-fluid on the opening of said nozzles and arranged in a positionaccessible from the outside of the building, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARVEY LAMB LUFKIN.

\Vitnesses:

STANLEY DWIGHT, J. B. SAUNDERS.

